CURASSOWS. 
205 
birds : — They have all a more or less naked membrane^ 
whichj as crests^ flaps^ or caruncles^ appears on the head and 
neck ; perfect plumage^ with gorgets and odd tail-feathers^ 
and of most splendid colours ; a very large pelvis ; strong 
feet, for running ; the greatest number of eggs ; a strong 
sexual propensity; polygamy, — the male takes no care in 
rearing the brood ; a very slight indication of intellectual 
life, so that it may be said that they are preserved only by 
their great fertility : if, for instance, the partridge laid but 
two eggs, it would have been extirpated long ago by raven- 
ous animals and men. We remark, also, that they love to 
bathe in dust or sand, are very pugnacious in regard to 
their females, and live on vegetable food"^." 
South America is the native country of a family of this 
order, called CfiACiD^, some of which, as the Curassows, are 
familiar to the visitors of our Zoological Gardens (Plate 
XVII. fig. 2. Crax Yarrellii), These birds are mostly of 
large size, and considerably resemble turkeys; the tail is 
very broad and rounded, and consists of fourteen stiff fea- 
thers ; the hind toe is on the same level with the other toes, 
so that the birds can perch and nestle upon trees; they 
* Kaup, in a paper translated by him in ' Jardine's Contributions ' (1849), 
p. 116, 29. 
